Ariel Sharon

{{Audio|He-Ariel Sharon.ogg|Ariel Sharon}} (Hebrew: אריאל שרון, born February 27, 1928) is a long-serving Israeli political and military leader, and has been Prime Minister of Israel since March 2001, the eleventh holder of that office. He is also leader of Likud, the largest party in the governing coalition of political parties in the Israeli Knesset (parliament). He was born Ariel Scheinermann and is also often known by his nickname Arik.

Political career

Sharon had never been a political officer or general. He avoided Begin's Herut party in the 1940s and 1950s and seemed to be personally devoted to the ideals of Mapai, and then Labor. After he retired from the military and started a political career, Sharon even considered joining Labor, but was turned off by its cronyism. However, Sharon did propose a joint list of Labor and his own list party, Shlomtzion. When Labor rejected Shlomtzion, Sharon tried to form a joint list with the centrist Shinui party, though his party met denial there as well.

Related Topics:
Herut - 1940 - 1950 - Mapai - Shlomtzion - Shinui

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Only after two rejections did Sharon form a political alliance with Menachem Begin. In combination with Begin, the center-right won the Israeli elections of 1977 for the first time ever.

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Sharon was a member of the Knesset 1973–1974, and then from 1977 to the present. In 1975–1976, he served as the security adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He then served as Minister of Agriculture (1977–1981), and as Defense Minister (1981–1983) in Begin's Likud government.

Related Topics:
1975 - 1976 - 1981 - 1983

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During this period, Sharon supported the Gush Emunim settlements movement and was viewed as the patron of the messianic settlers' movement. He used his position to encourage the establishment of a network of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to prevent the possibility of the return of these territories to Palestinian Arabs. Sharon doubled the number of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip during his tenure.

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After being dismissed from the Defense Minister post for his involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, Sharon remained in successive governments as a Minister without portfolio (1983–1984), Minister for Trade and Industry (1984–1990), and Minister for Housing Construction (1990–1992). In Benjamin Netanyahu's 1996–1999 government, he was Minister of National Infrastructure (1996–1998), and Foreign Minister (1998–1999). Upon the election of the Barak Labor government, Sharon became leader of the Likud party. After the collapse of Barak's government, he was elected Prime Minister in February 2001.

Related Topics:
1984 - 1990 - 1992 - Benjamin Netanyahu - 1996 - 1999 - 1998 - Barak - 2001

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According to the Palestinians, Ariel Sharon has followed an aggressive policy of non-negotiation. Palestinians allege that the al-Aqsa Intifada was sparked by a visit by Sharon and an escort of several hundred policemen to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount complex, site of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. Sharon's visit came after archeologists claimed that extensive building operations at the site were destroying priceless antiquities and a few months before the election. While visiting the site, Sharon declared that the complex would remain under perpetual Israeli control. Palestinian commentators accused Sharon of purposely inflaming emotions with the event to provoke a violent response and obstruct success of delicate ongoing peace talks.

Related Topics:
Al-Aqsa Intifada - Haram al-Sharif - Temple Mount - Dome of the Rock - Al-Aqsa Mosque

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Others, however, denied this claim vehemently, and claimed that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority planned the intifada. http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/111P55.htm http://www.townhall.com/columnists/charleskrauthammer/ck20010520.shtml http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf19.html#a1 http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/alaksa.html. They state that Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub provided assurances that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would arise. They also often quote statements by Palestinian Authority officials, particularly Imad Falouji, the P.A. Communications Minister, who admitted months after Sharon's visit that the violence had been planned in July, far in advance of Sharon's visit, stating the intifada "was carefully planned since the return of (Palestinian President) Yasser Arafat from Camp David negotiations rejecting the U.S. conditions."http://gulf-news.com/Articles/print.asp?ArticleID=11166http://jewishweek.org/news/newscontent.php3?artid=3846 According to the Mitchell Report, the government of Israel asserted that

Related Topics:
Yasser Arafat - Palestinian Authority - Camp David

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:the immediate catalyst for the violence was the breakdown of the Camp David negotiations on 25 July 2000 and the “widespread appreciation in the international community of Palestinian responsibility for the impasse.” In this view, Palestinian violence was planned by the PA leadership, and was aimed at “provoking and incurring Palestinian casualties as a means of regaining the diplomatic initiative.”

Related Topics:
25 July - 2000

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The Mitchell Report, based on a subsequent investigation, also found that the Sharon visit did not cause the Al-Aqsa Intifada, though it was poorly timed and would clearly have a provocative effect.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/Mitchellrep.html

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Palestinians doubt the existence of popular support for Sharon's actions. Polls published in the media, as well as the 140% call-up of reservists (as opposed to the 60% in regular periods) seem to indicate that the Israeli public is quite supportive of Sharon's policies. A survey conducted by Tel Aviv University's Jaffe Center in May 2004 found that 80% of Jewish Israelis believe that the Israel Defense Forces have succeeded in militarily countering the Al-Aqsa Intifada, http://spirit.tau.ac.il/socant/peace/peaceindex/2004/data/may2004d.pdf indicating widespread faith in Sharon's hard-line policy.

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On January 20, 2004, an Israeli court charged property developer David Appel with trying to bribe Sharon (through his son Gilad) while Sharon had served as Israel's National Infrastructure Minister in the 1990s. On June 14, 2004, Israel's Attorney General, Meni Mazouz, decided to close the case due to lack of evidence and prosecutorial misconduct.

Related Topics:
January 20 - David Appel - Gilad - June 14

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On July 20, 2004, Sharon called on French Jews to emigrate from France to Israel immediately, in light of a purported increase in French anti-Semitism (94 anti-Semitic assaults reported in the first six months of 2004 compared to 47 in 2003). France has the third largest Jewish population (about 600,000 people), after Israel and the United States. Sharon claimed that an "unfettered anti-Semitism" reigned in France. The French government responded by describing his comments as "unacceptable", as did the French representative Jewish organization CRIF, which denied Sharon's claim of intense anti-Semitism in French society. An Israeli spokesperson later claimed that Sharon had been misunderstood. France has indefinitely postponed a visit by Sharon.

Related Topics:
July 20 - French - Jew - Anti-Semitism - 2003 - United States - CRIF

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While some believe that his recent efforts have been damaging to the peace process, he has embarked on a risky course of unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while maintaining control of its borders and airspace. It has been welcomed by both the Palestinian Authority and the left-wing in Israel, as well as by many abroad, including the United States and the European Union, as a step towards a final peace settlement. However, it has been greeted with opposition from within his own Likud party and from other right-wing Israelis, on security, military, and religious grounds. Other detractors have publicly distrusted Sharon's motives for this plan, and their suspicions were further roused when top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass was quoted in Haaretz on October 6, 2004, as saying the purpose of disengagement was to destroy Palestinian aspirations for a state for years to come. This incident has bolstered the position of critics that Sharon is intentionally trying to destroy the Peace Process, an accusation denied by the Prime Minister's camp. See Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004.

Related Topics:
Gaza Strip - Palestinian Authority - European Union - Haaretz - October 6 - Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004

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On December 1, 2004, Sharon fired five ministers from the Shinui party for voting against the government's 2005 budget. In January 2005 Sharon formed a national unity government that included representatives of Likud, Labour, and Meimad and United Torah Judaism as "out-of-government" supporters without any seats in the government (UTJ rejects having ministerial offices as a policy). Between August 16 to August 30, 2005, Sharon controversially removed 8,500 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza. After Israeli soldiers buldozed every settlement structure except for several former synagogues buildings, Israeli soldiers formally left Gaza on Sunday, September 11, 2005 and closed the border fence at Kissufim. While his decision to withdraw from Gaza sparked bitter protests from Right Wing members of the Likud Party and the Settler movement, opinion polls showed that it was a popular move among most of the Israeli electorate. On September 27, 2005, Sharon narrowly defeated a leadership challenge initiated within the central committee of the governing Likud party by his main rival, Binyamin Netanyahu who had left Cabinet in protest at Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza by a 52-48% vote. The measure was an attempt by Netanyahu to call an early primary in November 2005 to choose the party's leader.

Related Topics:
December 1 - 2005 - Meimad - United Torah Judaism - August 16 - August 30 - September 11 - September 27

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